iTWire Thursday, 29 April 2021 11:17 ACCC authorises Country Press Australia collective bragaining with Google, Facebook Featured Country Press Australia representing independent regional, local newspapers
Australia’s competition regulator, the ACCC, has granted interim authorisation for Country Press Australia (CPA) members to collectively negotiate with Facebook and Google over payments to publishers for their news content that appears on the platforms.
CPA - an industry body that represents the interests of independent regional and local newspapers throughout Australia - currently represents 81 members and 160 regional newspapers, which provide local news to regional communities in print and online.
One of the 23 recommendations made by the ACCC’s 2019
MIL-OSI Australia: Country Press Australia members can collectively bargain with Google and Facebook
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Media code governing Facebook and Google in Australia becomes law
The News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code had passed the Senate after amendments last night.
Under the mandatory code of conduct, technology giants Google and Facebook would be required to negotiate with Australian media companies over payment for news content and notify them of algorithm changes.
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Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has celebrated the passage of the new media code.(Alex Ellinghausen/Sydney Morning Herald)
It followed a direction from the Morrison Government in December 2019 to facilitate the development of voluntary codes to address bargaining power imbalances between digital platforms and news media businesses.
The government s new media laws for digital platforms like Facebook and Google have passed the Senate.
The News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code was amended earlier this week after Facebook took the historic step of blocking all Australian news from its pages.
The amendments must now be passed in the House of Representatives.
But the battle to get the laws passed stretches back half a year, to when Mr Frydenberg and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)Â announced the draft code for digital platforms in July 2020.
The government s new laws about news on social media sites have passed the Senate.(AP)